Baseball game



Dec. 30, 1924,

Filed Nov. 8, 1 923 ,Y l l m T unmnuw' 52 5 FOUL i FY ' nl "1 l Z mmm Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

UNITED STATES ELIJ'AH H. COLE,.OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BASEBALL GAME.

Application filed November 8, 1923.

To all whom t may conce-rn.'

Be it known that I, ELIJAH H. Conn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in thel county of Kings and State ot' New York, have invented a new and Improved Baseball-Game, of Which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to a baseball gameboard and method of playing the game. .an object of the invention is to provide a simple and interesting form of board and method of )laying a baseball game whereby an unusual y realistic game of ball can be played, including the possibility of all plays which occur in a regular baseball game, and

also including the necessity for considerable skill on the part of the players.

rlhe invention is illustrated in the drawings, of Which- Figure 1 is a plan View oft-he board; and

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

rlhe form of the invention shown in the drawings is a preferred form, although it is understood that modilications in the construction and arrangementof the parts and in the character of the materials used may be adopted Without departing from t-he spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

ln general, the game includes a board on which a playing' field is marked with the usual base lines and base sections, pitchers box, catchers box, etc. At the home plate there is provided a projecting portion in the form of a pin. ln playing the game, the gamepiece, preferably a circular disk, is projected along the surface of the board from the pitchers box by one of the players toward the pin, the object being to make it hit the pin and rebound from said pin in such a direction as Will bring it back on the playing' field, either the infield or the outtie-ld. The board is provided with a plurality of designated areas representing certain tty/#pes of plays, and when the gam-e piece comes to rest in any one of these areas the pla-y designated is put into effect.

The surface of the board is also provided with a number of depressed areas in which the game piece may come to rest. rlhese depressed areas are located at the bases.

Back of the second baseatthe end of the board opposite the home plate, I provide a group of areas, successively more distant Serial No. 673,576.

from the home plate, which I call Zones, representing one, tvvo and three base hits and home runs. lf the gainepiece comes to rest in any of these areas, the play may be either a clean base hit or a high fly caught by the fielder. Provision .is also made for taking account of foulballs and flies, Wild throws and Wild pitches. In fact, practically every play Which takes place in an ordinary ball game is accounted for in the operation of this gameboard.

The preferred form of the gzuneboard shown in the drawings has a base 1 provided with relatively shallow side Walls 2n. On the board is marked the usual playing lield Withvthe base lines 2, 3, i and 5, and with a projecting pin (i at the home plate. At the lirst base there arc disposed three defined areas 7,. 8 and 9, the former being sunken. ln line with the first base line and extending therebeyond to the Wall of the board is a partition 10. Similarly, in line With the third base line and extending beyond the third base to the Wall of the. board is a partition 11. There is a recess`12 at second base and deiined areas 13, 14: and i5 at third base, the former, 13, being sunken. There are also delined areas on the second and third base lines, designated by the .numerals 16 and 17. There is also a defined area 18 disposed in the inield between the pitchers box 19 and the home plat-e.

Extending from the second base outwardly toward the end of the board opposite the home plate are a plurality of groups of areas, said groups being numbered 20, 21, 22 and 23. These are marked on the surface of the board with characters which will be explained hereinafter. On the other end of the board adjacent the home plate i are a plurality of areas 2&2, 25, 26, 27, 28, 2S),

30 and 31. The game is played with game pieces such as and one of which is used to project from the pitchersbox toward the pin G, and the other of which is placed back of the pin (l in the area 3l, supposed to be the batter, aud disposed in position usually occupied by the catcher.

ln the operation ofthe game there are two teams of one or more players each. One team, called the insidef7 is supposed to be at bat; and the other team, called the outside, is supposed to be in field. ln starting the gaine the inside places the gam-e piece in the batting circle, and the outside places a game piece in the pitchers box and then shoots it toward the projection 6', otherwise called the batting pin.7 The game piece when projected toward the batting pin 6 will rebound therefrom in any one of many directions in accordance with the angle at i hit fair and does not get into any of the fiy squares. In this case the outsideV player has a chance to shoot the game piece to the particular base toward which theV runner is running, vbut if he projects the piece into, for instance, the recess 7 at first base without having the game piece overlap the sides of the recess then the runner is out, otherwise he is safe. lf the game Vpiece projected by the inside at the pinV has been deflected into any of the areas marked foul fly, fly or line ily then the runner is automatically outV if the piece is located squarely within any one of said areas. if the man is'saf'e on his base, the inside puts a player piece on the base line nearest to the base whichv the ruimer has secured. If the game piece happens to be deflected into the wild throw area such as 24, 25, 28 and Q9, then the outside has made an error and the runner is entitled to another base. In the eventl that he wishes to try for more than one base he may do so but in this case the outside has an opportunity to shoot a game piece to the base recess toward which the runner is moving totry to shoot him out. `Whenever the game piece is deflected to become a hit the batter can always try for more bases than he is entitled to, but in this case he takes a chance of being shot out by the other side.

Vith a man on second and third bases, a one base hit would entitle both the'players to come home safe.

If the game piece is deflected into any` one of the Zone areas 20 to 23, inclusive, the

` play is determined in accordance with the the player has made aggfoodhitA but in this case' the outside can shoot a piece to the first base and try to shoot the runner out by making thepiece land in the recess 7.

The second base zone 21the third base zone 22, and vtne fourth base zone 23 are marked ina similar manner and the plays take 1place ina similar manner, as: the gameA piece may land in any one of these further Zones. ln accordance with the rules of' the game, all flies in the third and-fourth zones 22and 23 are sacrifice flies and the runner who happens to be on third base can come home safe.V Y Y' 'Y To try a single, double or triple steal, the inside must move the runner only and just before 'the outside shoot-sat the batting pin. The outside is thenV allowed a free shoot fromthe place the game piece lands to any base to try to get the runners out. The play of catching a man ofi" base can be tried if the inside fails to move a runner back to the base when the outside shoots at the batting pin, and they outside is allowedV a free shoot from the place the ball lands to get the man out, if he desires.V

ln making double play, this is (only ef- Y footed on balls to the infield. Vlhenever a bunt occurs the ball is shot to the base to which the runner is forced. If the runner is outgthe game piece is then shot to first base, or, if the play is a fly, the piece is shot to the nearest'base on which there is a runner. On force-out, which means that the ball is batted to the base square on which there is a runner, the pie-ce can then Y be shot to any Vother base square Yor recess to make another' out.. Y

A. triple play isonly allowed to be made when the game piece goes to ,either the 16 or l?, mar red line Hy. ,The game piece must then be shot to the bases on which the two'runners are located.y Y

A runner on third can try for home plate on a two-base fly, but the outside can try to shoot him out.ln shooting the homek plate, if the'gaine piece hits the, batting pin or goes into the catchers space the runner is out, the catchers space being the square 3l. o n f v 0n a fly to third or fourth base zone a runner on rst or. second can'try Vto advance, but the outside has the privilege of shooting him out if possible. Similarly, a man on first can try for home on a two base hit with the possibility of being shot out. Y

If there is a man on first and one on :third the inside may try double steal, in which cas-e they move `the 'runner just-.before the outside shoots at the batting pin. If the play is a balk the outside shoots it at the second base, and if it goes into the second base recess l2, he can take his choice on having that runner out or shooting it back to the home plateto trv for the runner `getting home. In this case," if the ball does not go f into theisecond base recess 12, he can'try for home, unless the piece goes beyond the All) second base line in which case both runners are safe and the outside has made a wild throw.

it the play is an infield fair ball, the outside can play it home or play it to second and then to first, making two out, but in that case the runner on third has scored even if it makes three out. lf the play is a fair ball to the. out field, the outside can play it to second base or to first base unless it is in the one base zone, in which case he must play it to first base, making both the man going home and the man going to second. safe, unless there happens to be two out at the time.

ln playing the game both sides should re member that the disk is called the ball, and that. the term shooting is used instead of throwing. The outside always shoots first at a new batter. The inside is the only side which can move the runners. The outside is the only side whichv can shoot to the base. The inside can shoot only at the batting pin from the pitchers box. rl"he outside can only shoot balls, and the inside can o-nly shoot cstrikes. A ball or strike is made either by missing the batting pin or by going foul. l? our balls or three strikes can only be called by missing` the batting pin going up; all other tries are just foul balls. A fair ball is o-ne that rebounds 'from the batting pin into fair territory. A Afoul fly is out for either side.

Furthermore, double plays can only be made with the ball going to the infield. A triple play can only be made when the ball goes to the line fly7 square.

lVhene-ver a wild throw is made by the outside in shooting to a base, all the runners are entitled to another base. Similarly, a wild pitch made by the outside entitles all runners to an eXtra base. Whenever a balk is made by the outside all runners are entitled to advance one base but the outside in this case does not lose his try at the batting pin. Any ruimer hit by a batted ball is out. Any batter hit by a pitched ball only by the outside can take his base. To be hit by a pitched ball the ball must not hit the batting pin going up. It will be noted that when a ball goes into foul territory it is prevented from rebounding from the side walls 2 into fair territory by reason of the interposition ot' the partitions l0 and ll.

lt will, thereto-re, be observed that in the operation of this game and in the vuse of this board practically every play in an ordinary baseball game can occur. It will also be observed that considerable skill is re quired to produce the desired plays, bot-h in shooting at the batting pin and causing the piece to rebound in the right direction, as well as in shooting to the base recesses.

lWhat l claim is rl. A baseball game apparatus which comprises a playing surface on which a baseball diamond is marked off', a projecting pin at the home plate against which a game piece is adapted to be projected to rebound therefrom in any direction in accordance with the skillful effort of the player projecting the piece, said surface being provided with a depressed area at the first, second and third base positions to receive an outfield game piece projected the-reto from any part of the field for the purpose of putting out the runner, said board also provided with foul and fair fly areas at the first and third bases to receive the game piece coming to rest thereon, as well as line fly areas intermediate the first, second and third base positions for the reception of game pieces coming to rest thereon.

A baseball game apparatus which includes a playing board on the surface of which a baseball diamond is marked, a projecting pin at the home plate against which a game piece is to be projected to rebound therefrom, a plurality of rows of areas marked on the board back of the second base, these areas arranged in rows at successii/ely greater distances from the home plate, these areas representing one, two, three and four base hits in order, certain of said areas in each zone or group being marked to represent fiies and others marked to represent safe hits.

8. A baseball game apparatus which includes a playing surface on which a baseball diamond is marked, a projecting pin at the home plate against which a game piece is adapted to be projected to rebound therefrom into other parts of' the board, said board provided with a depressed area at the first, second and third base positions for the reception of the game piece as it rebounds, said board also being provided with a plurality of area-s arranged in groups or zones back of the second base position, these areas marked to represent safe hits or flies in accordance with their distance from the home plate.

ELIJAH H. COLE.

CII

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